Huawei has lived up to its custom this year by introducing a budget smartphone alongside its flagship device with more or less the same features and some of the essentials cut out. The Huawei P9 Lite as the name suggests is a lite version of its older Pro siblings: The Huawei P9, Plus and Max.
Built:
P9 Lite comes with a 5.2 inch body with dimensions 146.8 × 72.6 × 7.5 mm weighing a standard 147 grams. It has gold, white and black colors with a matte finish to top it all off with. This beauty is an appropriate amalgam of plastic, glass and metal and is in every way what you could say… an attractive device. Its looks is one of the commendable features, Huawei has managed to trickle down to its lighter ‘Lite’ version from the flagship superiors.
Hardware:
It runs on HISilicon Kirin 650 processor which is a creation of Huawei itself. There are 8 Cortex-A53 cores, 4 of them clocked on 2.0 GHz and the remaining on 1.7 GHz. The GPU is a handsome Mali-T880MP2 which only serves as icing on the cake. We’ve found that these processors run together to give what many may call an awesome experience and it may just live up to the requirements of some heavy users.
We’ve found some meager games to run efficiently and it provides for some graphics demanding game a satisfactory performance. This efficient gaming performance does not come at a cost of other applications being force closed. We were rapidly switching to and from between apps during the tests we subjected this device to and found this phone taking all the strain like a champ. It handles multi-tasking better than most phones out there and those too with nearly the same specs. We’d give Huawei a thumb up in this regard.
Software:
It comes running the android 6.0 marshmallow loaded with Huawei’s MIUI skin which many find likeable. We found it an unwanted addition to the software. With this year’s Huawei’s Nexus 6P, we thought that Huawei may be taking a step towards freeing it’s UI of all the bloatware opting the way Motorola did not long ago but sadly it does not appear to be the case.
Integrated within the software, like all the other Huawei phones, is a double-tap to wake feature, an ultra-battery saving mode and a feature that allows you to set shortcuts on asleep device screen; all of which are so definitive of their software.
Display:
Its IPS Capacitive LCD comes with a vibrant 424PPI display that supports multi-touch. We’d not hesitate one jiffy to call it the stuff dreams are made of. You don’t get to see such LCDs in budget devices these days. While not entirely falling in the category of a budget device, we keep referring to it as one because it is an affordable lite version of a flagship: the unmatched Huawei P9.
Memory:
One of the very notable features that we found worth mentioning for this device is the efficient memory management. This is where this device rules like a boss. It does not let any lingering apps drain all the juice and lay mounds of memory packets in RAM.
Moreover the addition of a generous 3GB RAM to such a software eases this device’s way towards seamless performance. Consumers are not likely to complain regarding the memory consumption on this device.
There are 2 variants of this device a 2GB version and a 3 GB version. Both of them come with 16GB internal storage and an option for expandable storage via memory card slots of up to 128GBs.
Battery:
It comes with a non-removable 3000mah battery. While the display is power thirsty, the efficient app-management like we mentioned earlier accompanied with this humongous battery would get a heavy user easily through a day. However consumers have reported getting on average two-days of use from this device. Oh, and did we mention that it comes with an ultra-battery saving mode? We might not have, because it’s considered a necessary addition to these Huawei devices these days and is what many may regard as a signature. It sure was a surprise when the Nexus 6P by Huawei didn’t come with an ultra-battery saving mode. Imminent, but still shocking
We don’t mind this mode much; on the contrary, we welcome it. The reason being that it… well… works! This mode allows users some basic functionality and restricts them from using battery hungry apps. How basic, you may ask. Well, all it allows one is the basic call and text functionality and that’s it! It restricts background data and turns of all networks automatically leaving you with a basic phone to serve in emergencies. If there’s anything that makes the Huawei’s skin bearable, it’s this and the efficient memory management.
Camera:
The primary camera on this device is 13MP with f/2.0 and a dual LED flash. The front selfie snapper is an 8MP shooter and that too comes with an LED flash. These cameras come with all the necessary accompanying perks like geo-tagging, face detection and touch focus, panorama and HDR etc. Both cameras allow video recording at 1080p.
Sensors:
This phone comes with accelerometer, proximity, compass and a welcome addition of fingerprint sensor. This fingerprint sensor also allows you to wake the device by placing your finger atop it. This is a praise-worthy feature and handy for those who want to protect their hardware buttons, or are just too lazy to reach for it.
Final Verdict:
With a price of 300 USD, we think that this device may be a little overpriced. If you’re not a fan of the MIUI ROM like us than this is not the phone for you. The MIUI skin sits heavily atop android 6.0 architecture and is highly noticeable. Instead we suggest the LG’s Nexus 5X that comes with nearly the same features and is a tad bit underpriced as well. But if the Huawei’s skin doesn’t bother you and you’re all for hardware than this might just be the right phone for you.